


True Stripes

by Shi_Toyu



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Hawkeye (Comics), Iron Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, Alternate Universe - Shifters, Artist Steve Rogers, Boss/Employee Relationship, Crushes, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Foursome - M/M/M/M, Healthy Relationships, I'm Not Joking Guys, Identity Reveal, Implied Sexual Content, Jogging, M/M, Miscommunication, Polyamory, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Protective Bucky Barnes, Secret Crush, Smart Clint Barton, Threesome - M/M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-11-14 13:53:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11209425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shi_Toyu/pseuds/Shi_Toyu
Summary: Bucky, Clint and Steve are very happy in their relationship. They've talked about adding a fourth but none of them have ever found someone who quite fit the bill... Until now.





	True Stripes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Akira_of_the_Twilight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akira_of_the_Twilight/gifts).



> This goes out to Akira! Because the world needs more Tiger!Tony! I promised you StarkSpangledWinterHawk but I just couldn't resist...

Bucky was secretly glad his lovers went on their own flight route in the morning, leaving him to run a circuit (or a few circuits) of Central Park on his own. It had started off as a way to give him some time alone, since his pack instincts didn’t demand quite as much togetherness as Steve and Clint’s flock instincts. Sometimes he just needed time to breath. Now, though… well, Bucky felt more than a little bit guilty about the whole thing, he was man enough to admit.

If Steve and Clint weren’t with him, there was no one to catch him _looking_.

It wasn’t anything sexual, not really. Between Steve and Clint, there was certainly no part of Bucky that was left wanting. It was just- _He_ was just gorgeous.

The tiger shifter had started showing up about three months into Bucky’s jogging routine, laid out on a rock next to the lake, an early morning sunbather. The first time Bucky’d spotted him, the wolf had nearly run straight into a tree. It wasn’t just that such exotic shifters were rare, even among the shifter community. He just seemed so… majestic.

Powerful muscles flowed beneath a silky-looking coat of vibrant orange and black. His yawns revealed teeth designed to rip through flesh and his stretches showed off claws meant for taking down prey. Bucky was pretty sure he’d be able to get off watching the guy hunt. Not that he would ever do anything to betray Steve and Clint. They’d been through far too much together for him to so much as even want to throw their relationship away.

He was just looking. That was all. And, okay, maybe he’d rearranged his route a bit to circle the lake a few more times than he had previously, but still. Only looking.

And then the hyenas showed up.

Bucky was a big proponent that you couldn’t judge a shifter by their animal, but these punks… They’d already been at the lake by the time he arrived, milling around just out of reach and taking turns darting in to nip at the tiger’s toes. He snarled at them, sending them skittering away, but they were back at it before Bucky was even a quarter of the way around the lake. There were five of them, a larger pack than most Bucky had seen, and enough to cause trouble even for a predator like the tiger.

He kept a wary eye on them as he circled the lake, trotting past joggers, businessmen cutting through on their way to work, and couples out for a morning stroll. A mother with a stroller veered sharply out of his path when he growled at the sight of one of the hyenas biting the tiger’s tail while the others kept him distracted.

Fuck that shit.

His paws barely made a sound as he thundered down the path, weaving his way between the other pedestrians. His lips pulled back into a snarl as he turned onto the grass, only to pull up short as he was nearly bowled over by fleeing hyenas. He blinked in surprise, turning to stare at where the tiger was lying down once more, lazily cleaning his paw with long strokes of his broad tongue. This close, he could smell the other’s spicy scent. The giant cat paused to give him a long look. Bucky cocked his head to one side.

What exactly had he missed?

.

“My boss has no vision,” Clint complained as he flopped down onto the couch with a groan. “Remind me why I do this job again?”

Bucky grinned as he passed him a beer.

“Because designing high-end sporting equipment pays better than the circus and lets you stay in one place for more than a few weeks at a time?”

Clint tipped the bottle in his direction before taking a long swig.

“That’s how much I love you two. I put up with a vision-less boss for you two.”

Steve just chuckled from the kitchen where he was busy preparing dinner.

“Which trick arrow idea did he shoot down this time?”

Clint sat up to glare over the back of the couch at his boyfriend.

“Excuse you, was that a pun? Are you making fun of my situation? The _sacrifices_ I make so we can afford this beautiful home and the finer things in life?”

Bucky reached out to ruffle Clint’s hair. Never mind that they all threw in a pretty equal amount to afford their apartment. It was a damn nice one, way nicer than the ones Steve or Bucky had had growing up in Brooklyn.

“Don’t get your feathers in a bunch,” he teased. “Weren’t you the one who just yesterday was saying what an absolute dream it was to work at Stark Industries?”

Clint blushed furiously.

“Yesterday was different. The contract for the next Olympics came in so Mr. Stark came down to make the announcement and check on all our projects.”

“Oooo,” Steve, the little shit, cooed from the kitchen. “Did you hear that, Bucky? _Mr. Stark_ came by to check on Clint’s _project_.”

Bucky had to act quickly to keep Clint from launching a throw pillow at Steve and sending dinner crashing to the floor, possibly with a healthy side of catching fire.

“It’s not like that!” Clint protested as Bucky pinned him to the couch.

Bucky kissed him right on his pouting lips, unable to resist.

“We’re just teasing, love. You know it’s alright if you have a crush on your boss’s boss’s boss’s boss, right?”

The other shifter shoved him until Bucky let him up.

“It’s not a crush,” he protested. “It’s a healthy admiration, thank you very much. I am perfectly happy with the men I already have in my life, even if they totally don’t deserve me.”

Bucky smiled and kissed him again.

“Whatever you say, darling.”

Steve chuckled, putting a lid on the pot he’d been stirring and turning the heat down before coming to join them with a beer of his own.

“We _have_ talked about the possibility of adding a fourth to our relationship. None of us just ever found someone else to bring in.”

Clint spared Steve a deadpan look.

“Yes, because that’s exactly the conversation I want to have with my boss’s boss’s boss’s boss, who I’m not even on a first-name basis with and have only met a handful of times. ‘Hi, Mr. Stark, sorry to take the time out of your busy schedule but I was wondering if you’d like to join me and my two boyfriends for some kinky, polyamorous sex.’”

“Well, it doesn’t have to be just for _sex_.”

This time, Bucky didn’t do anything to stop the pillow Clint launched at Steve. He deserved it.

.

The next time Bucky saw the tiger in Central Park, three squirrels were running amok around him. Real squirrels, from the looks of it, not just shifter squirrels. They played and tumbled over his great body, fighting over the bag of peanuts that lay toppled beside him. Clearly, he was making friends.

.

“We should go dancing tonight,” Steve said with a huge grin, the moment Bucky walked in the door from work.

Clint was holding up ties in the hallway mirror behind the blond, checking them against the color of his shirt. Steve wasn’t talking about clubbing when he said dancing, after all. A grin stretched its way across Bucky’s face.

“So, what’s the big occasion?” he asked, swooping in for a kiss from each of them before heading back toward the bedroom, already stripping out of his business attire. “What are we celebrating?”

“I got a new commission at the gallery today,” Steve said, following after him and beaming. "Remember Fallen Stars?”

Bucky frowned, mentally running through a list of Stevie’s paintings.

“The World War Two memorial piece? I thought you didn’t want to sell that one.”

“Well, yeah, not really. I didn’t want it to go to somebody who was just going to ignore it. But this guy came in today and utterly fell in love with it, said he was big on hiring veterans at his company. He wanted to put it in the lobby of the home office and, get this, he commissioned me for _twelve more_.”

Bucky’s jaw dropped.

“Does he know how much that’s going to cost?”

“He wanted to commission more, but I talked him down from it. I wanted to make sure I could give them the attention they each deserved.”

“Holy _shit_ , Stevie!”

“Worthy of going dancing?”

Bucky lifted his tiny spitfire of a boyfriend into the air and spun him around, laughing joyously.

“Considering I’m pretty sure you just single-handedly paid our mortgage for the entire year? We can go dancing as often as you like.”

Steve laughed right along with him.

“Well, I’ll get paid for each as soon as it’s completed so don’t count on any lump sum or anything. Tony and I will be getting together to design each one.”

Bucky’s eyebrows rose at that. Most of Steve’s clients were pretty hands-off in the design department and that’s exactly how he liked it.

“Oh? Is that gonna be a problem?”

“Surprisingly enough, I don’t think so. He seems really nice. I’m looking forward to working with him a bit more.”

.

Bucky turned away from his desk when he heard the tapping at his window, breaking out into a grin when he saw a red-tailed hawk and a sparrow perched on his balcony. There was a bag of take-out clutched between them. He opened the glass doors immediately to let his lovers in, pulling the shades so they could change back and pulling their ‘visiting clothes’ out of his desk drawer. He loved having his own private office, one of the perks of being a named partner of the investment firm.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” he asked once Steve and Clint had resumed their human appearances.

They all settled in on his couch to break open the takeout. It was Thai, Bucky was pleased to note.

“We have some news,” Clint said with an overly-somber expression. “The blood test results came back positive. I’m pregnant.”

Steve shoved him with a grin.

“We just wanted to surprise you. You’ve been working a lot lately.”

Wasn’t that the truth? Bucky hadn’t even had time to go on his morning runs the past couple of weeks.

“You know how it is whenever a new school year starts. People start paying tuition and then want to check up on their savings, see how everything is doing, move things around. It’ll blow over in another week or so.”

“Doesn’t mean we don’t still miss you,” Steve said with a smile, leaning over to give Bucky a wet smack on the cheek.

“Speaking of things we don’t want to miss,” Clint cut in, “the company is throwing a Labor Day Gala to recognize employees who have ‘significantly contributed’ to SI and guess who scored an invite?”

“Clint! That’s great!”

“And,” the smug asshole continued, “I managed to talk my way into having a plus _two_ instead of just a plus _one_ so you both get to suffer through the whole boring shindig with me.”

He grinned at them, completely unrepentant.

“ _Great_ ,” Bucky complained, not even trying to suppress his own smile. “Thanks. That’s just how I wanted to spend my Labor Day, being ridiculously proud of my boyfriends and getting to show them off.”

.

Clint was menacing the buffet table and Steve was deep in a conversation about art with a woman who looked old enough to be 130, so that left it up to Bucky to procure the next round of drinks. Thank God for a company that hosted events with an open bar. Bucky should consider it for the firm Christmas party.

He’d placed his order and was waiting for the drinks to show up when his nose caught a familiar, spicy scent and another body slid in next to his own.

“I’m sorry if this is a bit forward,” the newcomer apologized, “but do I know you?”

The man was shorter than Bucky and a bit taller than Steve, maybe about the same height as Clint. He had chocolate brown hair and honey-golden eyes that apparently didn’t change color when he shifted. _Damn_ , but he was as gorgeous in person as he was as a tiger.

“Not really,” Bucky grinned, not believing his luck, “but kind of. I’ve seen you around Central Park a few times.”

The man looked confused for half a second before running his eyes over Bucky’s frame again and seeming to come to a realization.

“You’re the wolf! I _knew_ I’d smelled you somewhere before,” he grinned. “You’re the one who tried to come to my rescue from those hyenas a while back.”

Bucky felt his face flush with embarrassment.

“Well, you didn’t exactly need my help, did you? You had it all well in hand.”

“I had no idea you worked for Stark Industries.”

“I don’t, actually. My boyfriend does. I’m here with him.”

Because as attractive as Bucky found this man, he wasn’t a free agent. It was better to get that out of the way up front and avoid any misunderstandings down the road. The man sighed dramatically.

“Such a shame. All the good ones are always taken.”

The bartender placed Bucky’s drinks in front of him before turning to help the next guest. Bucky gathered them up with ease of practice.

“You should come meet him,” he offered. “He should be back at the table by now, and you can meet Stevie, too, if we can drag him out of his current conversation long enough.”

The man laughed and nodded along gamely.

“Sure thing. Stevie is your…”

“Other boyfriend,” Bucky said, lifting his chin a bit. “That going to be a problem?”

The man just lifted his hands in surrender.

“Not from me. Simmer down, cowboy.”

Bucky flushed again.

“Sorry. We’re used to getting a bit of flack for our lifestyle.”

“I don’t doubt it,” he said, taking a sip of his drink, smelled like scotch. “Everyone’s a hater, these days. What’s your name, oh gallant knight of justice?”

“Oh, right, sorry! I should have said that earlier. I’m Bucky. It’s nice to meet you. And you are?”

“Tony?”

Bucky looked over at Steve’s interruption, surprised to have drawn the blonde’s attention.

“Steve?” Tony asked right back. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here with my boyfri-“

“Mr. Stark?”

Clint seemed frozen in shock, still clutching two plates piled high with food.

“Yes, Mr. Barton?”

Bucky quickly set his drinks down before he spilled them by laughing too hard. The other three, along with a healthy amount of the people at the surrounding tables, turned to stare.

“What is it?” Clint demanded. “What’s so funny?”

Bucky just pointed at Tony.

“You’re Tony Stark.”

“Um, yes?”

“You’re Clint’s boss’s boss’s boss’s boss.”

“Maybe? I don’t know. That’s a lot of bosses. I own the company.”

“You’re also the guy who commissioned the memorial paintings from Steve.The one who’s ‘really nice and funny.’”

“Yes again? They were great paintings. I’m not seeing the joke here.”

“And you’re the tiger shifter I run laps around the lake at Central Park just to stare at.”

Tony still looked non-plussed, but Steve, at least, had cottoned on. His hands flew up to cover his mouth, eyes wide.

“Oh, my God!”

Clint was hanging his head, fighting down snickers.

“I can’t believe us. We are such _dorks_.”

“I’m really not sure I understand what’s going on here,” Tony said hesitantly.

Bucky shared a look with Clint and Steve that had Clint placing his plates rather forcefully on the table just so he could throw his hands up in exasperation.

“Fine, _fine_. But if I get fired over this, you two are getting second jobs while I sit on the couch eating pizza.”

Steve just gave Bucky a firm nod before turning back to their very confused companion.

“Tony,” he began seriously, “how much do you know about polyamory?”

“Uh…”

“I told him I had two boyfriends while we were at the bar and he didn’t bat an eyelash.”

“ _Very_ promising. I approve.”

“What we’re trying to say,” Bucky took over, since Steve was apparently too busy mentally undressing Tony, “is that we’ve been looking for a fourth for a while now but haven’t been able to find someone who quite fit our dynamics. _You_ , however, have managed to get each of us to develop a crush on you with practically no effort at all.” He leaned in a bit. “That’s a very attractive quality.”

Tony blushed prettily.

“Are you… propositioning me?”

“Well, if I’m gonna get fired anyway…”

Clint pulled Tony in for a kiss and Bucky had to remind himself they were in a public place and debauching the owner of a company over a table at his own event was probably bad form.

“Wow,” Tony breathed when Clint released him. “That was, wow, yes. Okay. I have- Upstairs. Penthouse. You three should definitely come see my penthouse.”

Bucky grinned. He had a feeling he was going to like Tony’s penthouse quite a bit.


End file.
